Posts tagged "social media"

Yesterday, Facebook announced new measures to help users who might be at risk for self-harm. It’s become too common that we hear stories about Facebook users who speak to their distress and end up hurting themselves or worse, and in the meantime, their friends don’t know what to do. Facebook’s new…

If you're a believer in affirmations, or considering dipping your pinky toe into attempting them, an app has arrived to help you get started. 30 Days Self Love aims to empower users to genuinely love themselves, and encourages them to do so through telling themselves exactly that. It began when actress and model Sarah Karges grew tired…

Facebook’s developers are working on a virtual reality version of the social network. Oh my god, just kill me now. Facebook acquired Oculus VR last year, and at first everyone was like, “Why?” Well, now we know. Facebook wants us to dive deeper into the biggest timesuck humanity has ever known. Facebook’s CPO, Chris Cox,…

Pat Robertson, who is still somehow not dead yet, fielded a question on Tuesday morning from a viewer concerned over her daughter's predilection for posting her ultrasound pictures on Facebook. Cynthia writes: My daughter is pregnant with her first child (my first grandchild) and obviously there is a lot of rejoicing and excitement. Young…

Over the last five months, I’ve been going the Nick Briz Facebook escape route and, instead of “deleting” my profile with the possibility of coming back to it later, I’ve been deleting all of my activity on Facebook so that there’s just nothing there. Briz’s web site offers codes that you can plug i…

My ex, who I’ll call Tom, favorites all my posts, tweets, and Instagrams and it’s driving me crazy! I don’t know if he’s doing it to get my attention or what. I told him we could be friends when we broke up six months ago, but I didn’t mean, “Feel free to inundate my social…

Two weeks ago, writer Lindy West appeared on This American Life to talk about internet trolls, confronting one particularly cruel troll of the hundreds who verbally abuse her online, and the torrential downpour of abuse that comes to those who use the Internet, from writers to casual users. The heartbreaking interview quickly went viral,…

My Facebook feed is exploding with new babies. Adorable, squishy, big-eyed baby pictures are popping up all over the place, and most of them belong to first time parents. One of the great things about social media is that I have easy access to an array of newborn cuteness, from friends across the globe. At…

Historically Black colleges are helping to increase participation in STEM fields. [The Atlantic] Gmail has been shut down completely in China. [The Guardian] Read the too-common story of an insurance company mix up that ended with the last-minute denial of gender reassignment surgery for one trans woman. [The Daily Beast] Black wome…

I find it edifying to look up the definitions and etymology of words that represent abstractions. Today it’s “outrage.” It’s being talked about a lot, not least of all because of Slate’s recent collection of articles on the subject, specifically how it has been proliferated by social media. The English definition for “outrage”…

It wasn't the first time, and it won't be the last, that a brand posts something on social media and instantly regrets it. For those of you who've been listening to the popular "Serial" podcast, about the real-life murder of Hae Min Lee in 1999, you're aware…

The other day I noticed something kind of strange about the "People You Might Know" list on my Facebook account. In addition to the usual array of strangers or acquaintances with whom I share mutual friends and thus "might know," Facebook was suddenly suggesting some new faces with whom I shared no mutual friends. A…

Having a group of friends over in 10 minutes and forgot to pick up the Bacardi? Enjoying your pity party at home, and it's way too freakin' cold to trek to the liquor store? Have no fear. I just discovered Thirstie, a wine and spirits delivery app that will bring…

I feel like a bad friend. My friends seem so successful and I feel like I’m stalling. All I see are updates about marriages, babies, pregnancies, I feel like I can’t keep up. How do I not feel so terrible about it? Social media is a tool, not a reflection of real life. Like airbrushed…

We all know the compulsive itch to check Instagram at the most inopportune of moments (or worse, in our actual free time when we could be doing so many things that are actually constructive). Nir Eyal, author of Hooked: How To Build Habit-Forming Products, recently sat down with Business Insider to explain why the app i…

Over the next several weeks, prepare to be completely inundated with social media photos of people's Thanksgiving meals. You'll see so many pictures of sweet potatoes that life will suddenly take on an orange hue, and obviously, you'll see turkeys en masse, because they're Thanksgiving's most important staple. Somehow, though, last year's most-tweeted about food…

For those of you whose Facebook news feeds have become bombarded with photos of your friends' babies, this is not good news for you. A design student in the Netherlands has just come up with perhaps the most invasive technology ever, sure to make baby's first words be "I hate you, mama." New Born Fame,…

Hi. My name is Ross von Metzke. I’m a 35-year-old gay male living in Southern California. Blonde hair, green eyes, 6’0”. Did I mention I’m male? But according to Facebook, for the last 24 hours, my name has been Elizabeth Gallagher. Why? If I’m being honest, it’s my own fucking fault — but I’m gonna…

I keep having to revise my position on art selfies. I don’t know. I still hate the fact that most museum patrons seem to be there to say that they were there, to have the pictures to prove it; that they’re not seeing the art, they’re seeing themselves with the art. At the same…

Taking a page out of those girls you went to high school with who can't stop smugly posting every detail of their perfect lives on Facebook, Lady Gaga shaded America's youngest grandma Taylor Swift just perfectly on Twitter yesterday. It all started when Jaime King's unborn child's godmother tweeted about Gaga, using the preferred…